Best Laid Plans
by RowenaR
Summary: Laura Cadman meets someone aboard the George Hammond. Guess who. Missing scene/tag/probably AU to Jo Graham's book Homecoming.


**Author:** RowenaR

**Rating:** K+

**Category: **gen, friendship

**Disclaimer:** Stargate belongs to Gekko and… all those other people making money with it. Also, to MGM and _Homecoming_'s plot belongs to Jo Graham. Anyway, I don't make money with this. Honestly. So – I don't own, you don't sue. Deal?

**Summary:** Laura Cadman meets someone aboard the _General Hammond_. Guess who. Missing scene/tag/probably AU to Jo Graham's book _Homecoming._

**A/N:** This is a little missing scene/tag to Jo Graham's book _Homecoming_ (published at Fandemonium), first book of the Legacy series. It kind of assaulted me when I read the first half of the book - and yes, there are spoilers in here - so I hacked it into the laptop on the way from Hamburg to Binz/Rügen and here it is... although I think I pretty much screwed around with Jo's timeline so you probably maybe better treat this as a kind of AU.

Also, in case anyone else than **mac** wants to know what Laura does to keep her Marines in shape... go ask mac. She had the best suggestions :D (I liked the one with the control chrystal best...).

And as always: Not a native speaker, so please excuse any weird grammatical constructions, run-ons and typos. Feedback will earn you a cookie, flames will roast my marshmellows.

* * *

**Best Laid Plans**

"_Tell me why all the best laid plans  
fall apart in your hands  
and my good intentions  
never end the way I meant."_

_James Blunt, "Best Laid Plans"_

Well, she thinks, another wave from Atlantis must have arrived. Another wave of Marines and Air Force personnel; some people she knows from her tour in the city, some she doesn't. She can see Captain Garner shuffling to her new quarters and she gives the pilot a little wave to indicate she saw her. Garner answers with another wave… but she wears the same expression she has seen on a lot of other personnel… as if she doesn't want to be here, on the _Hammond_, Earth's new flagship.

And if she's honest… she understands them, _all_ of them. It's been a while since her time in Atlantis and she does perceive it an honor to be new CO of the _Hammond_'s Marine contingent… but she can't help feeling resentment at all the political games they're playing with Atlantis. She heard it through the grapevine pretty early on that Atlantis was supposed to stay on Earth and for some reason she _hates _that thought.

Atlantis doesn't belong here, and she'd love to tell all those people who came here from the city – she's pretty sure she saw Ronon at some point during the last couple of days – that she knows what they're going through and that she sympathizes but she has a feeling that it wouldn't be good in her current position – newly assigned and not having proven her worth to Samantha Carter, role model for several generations of female soldiers, yet – to go around spouting her doubts about the sanity of a few people with a lot more power than she has.

So… "Cadman?" What… oh. Having turned around at the vaguely familiar voice, she recognizes its owner on the spot. Another… new arrival on the _Hammond_. Or at least… she kind of hopes so.

"Major Lorne. Nice to see you, sir." And it really is. She always liked him back in Atlantis because he was always a decent CO and because for a Zoomie, he could pretty much hold his own in a fight. He also gave her the privilege of being the one to blow up whatever needed to be blown up when she was on missions with him.

Now, though… she can see the same look on his face that she saw on Garner's face… and it makes her feel a little sorry for him. Rodney and Sheppard might have been Atlantis' champions… but she always had a feeling the city was just as much part of Evan Lorne as she was of them. True to his nature, though, he schools his features back to neutral just a moment after she saw this little glimpse of his current mind set. "Nice to see you, too… a Captain, huh?"

"Yessir." She can't help grinning at that. Yep, a Captain. It's still pretty fresh and it still needs a little getting used to but yes… there's another bar on her shoulders now.

There's a little grin on his face now and she thinks she recognizes it as the look of a senior officer who's just a little proud to see that one of their soldiers actually made it somewhere. "Congratulations. I take it you're also the Captain of the _Hammond_'s Marine contingent?"

She nods again. "Yep. Just got appointed two weeks ago. It's… a great opportunity." And it's also her biggest chance at screwing up yet. Until now, she aced every aspect of her training and service but her first real command… if she's honest, it scares her to death… and now that there are _two_ officers on board the _Hammond_ that she respects and admires, she feels the weight on her shoulders doubling. But she'd be damned if she'd let anyone see that.

"I'm sure it is," he agrees and then it seems like the façade is cracking again, just for a moment. It must have hit him pretty hard, it dawns on her, having had to realize that no, Atlantis _won't_ go back to Pegasus.

Seeing steadfast and stoical Evan Lorne looking bitter and resigned makes her uneasy but she tries not to let it show, so she says conversationally, "So… you got reassigned, too?" Which, of course, was one of the most stupid things she could have said. Really… stating the obvious was always Rodney's job.

To her relief, though, it seems like for the time being he decided to play along this game because he replies, "Yeah. It was… kind of overdue, anyway. I'm just glad I got transferred to Colonel Carter's command." It must be really bad if he more or less admits that he would have been _very_ unhappy with any other assignment.

So for a moment, she doesn't really know what to say – except that being under Samantha Carter's command _is_ the best thing that could happen to every soldier in the Stargate program but she's pretty sure he knows _that_ – and then it kind of… slips out, "Hurts, doesn't it?"

He doesn't say anything for a moment, doesn't even look at her… just flexes his hands and presses his lips together in a tight line. Then, almost ground out between his teeth, "Like hell."

Somehow she'd known he'd answer that but actually hearing him say it… it makes her feel sorry for him but most of all it makes her furious at all those politicians and those officers in the rear echelon who have no idea what Atlantis means for the Pegasus galaxy… and for those who served on her, at one time or the other. It's _home_ for them, she thinks… she _knows_ because for two years it had been _her_ home as well and she had kind of hoped to probably be reassigned again some day… and that hope has been crushed now, as well.

She takes a deep breath. "I heard Colonel Sheppard and Mr. Woolsey are still staying put in the city."

There's the ghost of a humorless grin on his face but at least he's looking at her again. "More like clinging to it with their teeth and bare hands." Then he frowns. "To be honest, though… I was surprised about the effort Woolsey put into fighting for the city."

"Well," she says and smirks, "he's probably been around Colonel Sheppard for too long."

This time, he shows her a _real_ small grin, a little resigned but with some actual humor in it. "Haven't we all?"

She certainly has. It's showing in her command style time and again and she's not quite sure, yet if that's a _good_ thing. But what's more important than that… having been around Sheppard for too long also means that you know what he's capable of. And because she wants Lorne to stop looking so bitter and frustrated, she dares to venture, "So… we all know that with Sheppard… you never know." She can't help biting her lip and furrowing her brows because she's not quite sure how he will judge this.

And yes, for a moment he looks like he might admonish her for that, and if it's just because he's fed up with hoping for something that will probably never happen. But then… he runs a hand through his hair and says, "Yeah, I think you're right, Captain… with Sheppard you never know."

For some reason, something in that statement seems to have improved his mood a little bit… enough for tight little smile and adding, "So… how's life as the commanding officer of a bunch of Marines?"

Well… apparently, he decided he talked enough about Atlantis and that's okay with her. After all, they will get other opportunities for that and she thinks his question was also meant to show her that he doesn't intend to dwell on all the disappointment and frustration and anger forever so she takes up his thread with a grin. "Pretty much routine, you know. Want to see how I keep my Marines in shape, sir?"

He grins back, probably foreseeing the sparring session she thinks he needs pretty badly and to her satisfaction he replies, "Absolutely, Captain. Lead the way." And so she does, somehow feeling pleased with herself about how she handled all of this… and definitely looking forward to seeing if Major Lorne can still hold his own in a good fight.


End file.
